


absolution in the same place as the crime

by braigwen_s



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Gen, I Have A Lot Of Thoughts About Drumknott That Cannot Be Easily Summed Up Into Tags, Latatian | Latin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-16 09:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 432
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28828803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/braigwen_s/pseuds/braigwen_s
Summary: Charlie has a regret, and it's not about the mirror-man in front of him in the Oblong Office; it's about his little secretary.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	absolution in the same place as the crime

Charlie was not enjoying being back in this room, or being looked at by a creepily-similar tyrant. He supposed that this unease was his own fault. "I was standing here when I did it," he said. "I thought that I had killed him." He didn't look at Drumknott, who was painfully visible, standing behind his master like a child hiding behind a mother's skirts at a threat.

“Actus me invito factus non est meus actus,” quoted Vetinari, waving to a piece of paper that looked identical to about fifty others also on the big, wooden desk. The Latatian was a legal precept, one Charlie had heard far too many times in recent days, from such people as Mr Slant, to ever enjoy hearing again. _T_ _he act done by me against my will is not my act_.

Charlie shook his head. “That’s all very well and good to say,” he pointed out.

Drumknott appeared in front of him, and Charlie almost jumped, or flinched away. The little man stared at his eyes, and Charlie had the sudden sense his glasses were there not just to sharpen his gaze for himself but also to blunt it for others. It was like his very mind was being searched. It was almost worse than Vetinari’s – after all, Charlie didn’t know the clerk's eyes from his own mirror. Then Drumknott pointed downwards, and, confused and apprehensive, and with a minute nod from Vetinari, Charlie followed the instructions and knelt. It felt wrong, felt incredibly transgressive, to be kneeling in the presence of the Patrician, but be kneeling before somebody else. The carpet had been changed, so there must have been uncleanable bloodstains. Drumknott reached out the arm that hadn’t had its shoulder stabbed, and touched his head. “Te absolvo,” he said. _I forgive_. No, no, wait, not _forgive_ , he _removed_ – _I remove your guilt_.

Charlie blinked at him. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“You can get up now,” said Drumknott, and then flashed somehow back to Vetinari’s right side. Charlie looked between the two men, grateful and hurt and confused and frightened, which was more or less his usual state of mind these days. Vetinari didn't look like anything was out of the usual. His face was less expressive than Charlie's.

Charlie tried not to look at the hidden compartment on the big, wooden desk with the fifty-one pieces of paper on it. The carpet was almost brand-new, so he supposed it wouldn't make sense to waste it by killing him right there. There were other rooms in the Palace, after all. And Drumknott had absolved him.


End file.
